Bystander
by Vitreum
Summary: Sirius is exonerated and released from Azkaban when Harry is twenty. Remus as a bystander witnesses their first meeting. One-shot.


Remus allowed his hand to linger on the handle of the car door after he shut it. Through the tinted window he could see the hunched form of his friend, staring blankly in front of him at the headrest of the front passenger's seat. He did not want to turn around just yet to face the prying looks of the two young ministry Aurors who would be escorting his friend to the outskirts of the small village Ottery St. Catchpole.  
  
Behind him Remus heard a familiar thumping limp approach. "Remus," Alastor Moody growled, "Shacklebolt here said you wanted to ride with him while they drop him off."  
  
Remus nodded at this, and then turned around to face Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt. "I'd like to be there when he—when they..." He sighed a little wearily. "Harry just looks so much like James. I'm worried about his reaction."  
  
Moody considered this; at length he nodded. "Most people do seem to be questioning his stability," he said, casting a critical eye at the two Aurors who were now speaking in hushed undertones. As he turned back to face Remus his magical eye remained turned round in his head, presumably keeping a tab on the two junior Aurors. "He recognized you, though."  
  
There was an uncertain silence.  
  
"Zimmermann! Stokes!" The two young Aurors immediately straightened in full attentiveness. "You are to leave now. You shall take your charge to where Harry Potter lives. You know him personally, I believe?" Zimmermann and Stokes both nodded enthusiastically in concession. "They graduated the Auror program a year after Potter," Moody filled in for Remus. "Although they are each two years older than him. Merlin, that boy..." Moody left of the end of his sentence, shaking his head. Remus smiled. He too had been astounded at how quickly Harry had passed each level of his Auror training. How proud his parents would have been! But instead there was no one to gloat with pride, to encourage Harry, to give him guidance and help him plan his future. It often worried Remus when he tried to work out exactly what it was that gave the young man his drive, especially when all Harry had was himself.  
  
"What in Merlin's name do you mean you can't drive?" Moody was shouting once more at one of the two juniors.  
  
"Don't worry, sir! I have a license!" Zimmermann—or was it Stokes? Remus could not tell—strode forward proudly brandishing a plastic Muggle card.  
  
"Good!" Moody shouted with impatient contempt. "I wouldn't have had to trust you incapable twits with this assignment except that it would be a risk to take Black through the Floo Network and its questionable whether he still has the ability to Apparate. So you are at least aware of your responsibility here?"  
  
Cowed, the juniors nodded.  
  
"This man here is Remus Lupin. He is a friend of Black's. The only person he seems to recognize right now. You will allow him to ride with you to Potter's, and then you will bring him back with the Ministry car." Moody faced Remus once more and held out his hand. "Send me an owl. Tell me how it goes." Remus nodded and grasped the hand.  
  
"Remus," Shacklebolt said, dragging his eyes from Black's silhouette and breaking his silence for the first time. He grimly held out his hand, which Remus also shook.  
  
The two senior Aurors turned and marched, one behind the other, into the disguised entrance of St. Mungo's, from where they would Floo to the Ministry.  
  
"Well! Remus Lupin! Pleased to meet you!" Remus turned to take stock of Sirius Black's personal escorts. "I'm Adolphus Zimmermann and this is my partner in crime, Julian Stokes!" Zimmermann guffawed loudly at this, and then abruptly stopped. "You testified for Black, didn't you?" he asked, his tone suddenly serious.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"They say you knew him before..."  
  
Stiffly, "Yes."  
  
Remus could feel their eyes boring into his own, inquisitively.  
  
"Is it true he's off his rocker?"  
  
Remus pointedly turned and strode to the other side of the car where he opened the door and climbed in beside Sirius. "Shucks, you shouldn't have said that, 'Dolph. Now we're not going to get anything out of him."  
  
Remus sat in the car and listened to their natter continue on outside. He braved a glance at Sirius, who still hadn't moved. "I think I may have to write a scathing letter to Moody about the new generation of law defenders." Remus bent forward and awkwardly wrapped the seat belt across Sirius's front and pushed in the buckle. "Harry's is only a couple of hours outside of London. The Department of Transportition has charmed a route for us out of London. We won't get any red lights or traffic delays." Sirius stared ahead.  
  
The front doors to the car opened and Zimmermann and Stokes climbed into the car. They each cast a quick glance at Sirius and then studiously directed their gaze out the windshield. Remus let out a stifled sigh. He really did wish that a different escort could have been arranged. However, he realized the Ministry really could only spare its worst Auror duo at the moment, as all of the capable ones were busy sorting through the files of all the Azkaban prisoners. The discovery of Sirius Black's innocence had provoked a profound investigation into the competency of the Ministry of Magic's judicial system, the Wizemgamot. Barristers and Aurors alike were now sifting through paper work, court records, and the evidence storage rooms, with the object of discovering the alleged Death Eaters whom had been sent to Azkaban without trial, according to the clauses of the Magical Emergency Act. This Act had been instated twice in the last century, both times because of the threat posed by Voldemort. As a result, there were now well over a hundred Death Eaters and alleged Death Eaters in Azkaban whom had not received a comprehensive trial, or a trial at all.  
  
The current Minister of Magic was also using this opportunity to spout rhetoric about reforms of the system and such. Obviously, an election was pending.  
  
The car ride to the outskirts of London took over an hour despite the route being magicked. During that time Zimmermann and Stokes chattered and made lewd jokes about the "girls" in the office. Partway through the drive Sirius turned his head imperceptibly to look out the window at the passing streets. Remus was surprised, but he decided to take this as a good sign.  
  
Sirius Black had been removed from Azkaban two weeks prior. Since that time he had been admitted in St. Mungo's to be treated for malnourishment and several other health problems he had acquired during his nineteen-year confinement to a damp, cold prison cell. He hadn't been required to testify at his own trial, as he had not yet demonstrated his capacity to speak and the Healers on the ward had advised that he was in no physical or mental state to undergo the inquisition of a trial. In fact, there had been a motion amongst the Healers on Sirius's case to keep him in St. Mungo's Spell Damage Ward until he had shown some sort of improvement of mental condition. This suggestion had been rejected by one Harry Potter.  
  
Harry, at the age of eighteen, had initiated some personal research into the files of previously convicted Death Eaters and had stumbled across Sirius Black's case. After making the discovery that he was connected to his parent's death Harry had attacked the case. Eventually he had made the startling discovery that Sirius Black was his godfather. Later, he somehow unraveled the rest of the unprecedented story.  
  
Harry had instead insisted that his godfather come to stay with him. His grounds were that, as they were legally related, it was his responsibility as Sirius's only living family to take care of him. Remus, for one, did not quite understand the forcefulness with which he argued this point. Harry had been virtually connectionless his whole life and had had no opportunity to teach himself of familial loyalty, considering whom he had for relatives. Suddenly, the young man was adamantly sponsoring familial duty, and to a man he had never properly known in his life, no less.  
  
Although Remus thought that staying someplace other than in a hospital may be the best for Sirius, he was worried about Harry's capacity to care for him. Harry had a full time job at the Ministry, not to mention all of the renovations he was currently doing on his house. Nor could Remus fathom how a man who could barely take proper care of himself could possibly care for someone like Sirius, who needed help with everything from eating to getting dressed. It was part of office gossip at the Ministry that Harry never brought a lunch to work, that he slept only a few hours a night; indeed, although it had been years since Skeeter's articles, people still clung to the personality she had created for The Boy Who Lived. Gossip followed his movements as though he really was about to fall off the edge at any moment.  
  
Still, Harry Potter had been underestimated before. Perhaps, Remus thought, he was about to be proven wrong.  
  
Sirius shifted in his seat. Remus detected the movement out of the corner of his eye and froze. Instinct told him to wait and watch. A few minutes later Sirius shifted once more, garnering a look from Stokes, who was sitting in the passenger's seat directly in front of him. Stokes was about to punch Zimmermann in the shoulder to get his attention when Remus caught Stokes' eye and gave him the most severe look he could pull off. Stokes took the hint and turned around in his seat, eyes glued to the road.  
  
"Sirius?" Remus ventured gently. Sirius did not respond.  
  
Remus pulled his wand out of his breast pocket and put up a simple barrier charm between the front and back seats. Stokes whipped around in his seat in surprise, but upon seeing Remus's expression he quickly turned his jerky movement into an impromptu yawn. He remained staring straight ahead for the rest of the ride. Remus reflected that the man very well could have heard a rumor that he was a werewolf. With the protective barrier in place, Remus turned to Sirius once more, unafraid of the two Aurors listening to the conversation.  
  
"Sirius?" When Sirius did not respond Remus reached out a hand and ever so gently placed it on Sirius's shoulder. It was the first time Remus had ventured physical contact with Sirius since he was in Azkaban. He had been afraid to do so in the hospital, so hawkish were the Healers on the ward in watching over their patient. But that was not the only reason. Remus had been afraid to touch Sirius. He was afraid of seeing Sirius flinch, repulsed by the touch of a friend who had betrayed him so gravely.  
  
Slowly, painfully slowly, Sirius turned his head to look at Remus. Remus felt himself turn cold under Sirius's grey gaze. There was a haunting vacuity to them, but even as he thought this, he saw a flicker of—something—in them.  
  
"Re..." Sirius croaked. He sounded as one who had just woken up from a long sleep, his voice crackling slightly.  
  
"Yes, Sirius," Remus said encouragingly. Sirius had attempted to talk on one occasion before in St. Mungo's, but Remus had not mentioned it the Healers on the ward. He had not wanted them to put pressure on him to speak.  
  
"Remus."  
  
Remus felt a burning sensation in his throat. "Yes, Sirius," he said again.  
  
"St. Mungo's?" Sirius was looking at him with a questioning expression.  
  
Remus did not know what Sirius was asking. He was about to come up with something generically reassuring to say, the way an ignorant person does when talking to a mentally handicapped person, when it occurred to him that nobody had explained to Sirius that he would be leaving St. Mungo's or why. Remus had casually mentioned going to Harry's place, but did Sirius know which Harry he was referring to? Perhaps the disoriented behavior on Sirius's part was not due to mental instability so much as genuine confusion and mistrust over what was happening. He had been suddenly pulled out of Azkaban after nearly two decades, poked and prodded in a hospital bed for two weeks, and then dressed and packed into a car without so much as an explanation for any of these actions. Everyone had assumed that since he couldn't talk he had lost the faculties to understand as well.  
  
And now, Sirius was obviously trying to get some answers. It seemed that "St. Mungo's" was all he could trust his voice to say, but in those two words he hung a more specific question.  
  
Remus took a deep breath, with an odd feeling of relief that Sirius seemed not to be quite so unwell as he had thought. "We're leaving St. Mungo's. You may have to go back for a checkup, but you will be staying with Harry for now."  
  
"Harry?" Sirius intoned hoarsely.  
  
"Harry Potter, your godson. He's all grown up now. He has a house in the country near a small village. He's the one who discovered your innocence."  
  
Sirius did not say anything, but he looked at Remus as if he did not want him to stop speaking.  
  
"He was working on your case for months when he found out the truth. There's been a trial. You were found innocent. Your name's been cleared, and the Ministry has mentioned compensation sometime soon, although they haven't specified how much."  
  
"Peter?"  
  
"Peter...Peter has been in Azkaban for the past few years. He was taken out to give testimony at the trial, but he was put back in right away. There was a lot of confusion when he was discovered alive and in Voldemort's ranks, I'll tell you."  
  
"Dirty rat," Sirius spat darkly. This comment was so like Sirius in one of his dark moods that Remus nearly smiled, glad to have his boyhood friend back. He stopped himself, though, realizing the inappropriateness of the action.  
  
"How is Harry?" Sirius asked hoarsely, looking away from Remus.  
  
"He's...alright." Remus prayed Sirius did not notice the unintentional pause. The truth was, Remus did not really know how Harry was doing. Harry's insistence that he was all right whenever Remus sent him an owl seemed a little too defensive at times. "He's twenty now. He's already graduated from the Auror program, and with his work on your case he may be getting a promotion soon. Who knows?"  
  
"You...you took care of him, then?"  
  
Remus hesitated as the usual guilt flooded him. He had not been able to take him. Instead he had been sent to his aunt to live. It was not his fault that this had been Dumbledore's decision, but it was his fault that he had never so much as checked on Harry during the first twelve years of his stay there.  
  
"No," Remus said slowly. "He went to live with Lily's sister, Petunia."  
  
Sirius looked as dark as a moment ago at this. "As long as she treated Harry well," he croaked.  
  
Remus decided it would be superfluous to mention that she hadn't.  
  
Sirius was contemplating him again. "And you?"  
  
"Oh, you know," Remus began, knowing full well that Sirius did not know. "I've had a few commission based jobs with the Ministry. I worked at Hogwarts too. I taught Harry. And then, well, I was pretty busy with the Order."  
  
"The Order...of the Phoenix?"  
  
"Yes...Sirius, Voldemort has been defeated. Permanently this time." Remus watched closely to gauge Sirius's reaction.  
  
"Prophecy's fulfilled?"  
  
Remus nodded. Sirius coughed hoarsely and returned to a brooding state.  
  
"We'll be there soon."  
  
Sirius nodded. Remus then asked something that had been troubling him since Sirius had started talking. "Sirius...why didn't you talk before now?"  
  
Sirius shrugged. When he spoke, he did so very slowly. "I couldn't. At first, I was just so... out of it, Remus. I tried to...that day that you came. But...I hadn't spoken in so long." Sirius paused to swallow painfully. "I've been practicing. When no one else was in the room...I'd talk to myself. It hurts, though." On cue, Sirius coughed hoarsely again.  
  
Remus gave a small smile as he thought of something. He hesitated, then gave in and reached inside his coat pocket. "Here, take this," he said, handing Sirius a small foil-wrapped chocolate square.  
  
Sirius almost smiled. "Still with the love of your life, I see?" The backseat of the car was silent for a while as Sirius laboriously fiddled with the wrapper, his hands clumsy from disuse. Eventually Remus felt the need to puncture the silence.  
  
"I should have explained it all to you before now. We thought your silence meant something else entirely."  
  
"You all thought I was off my rocker," he said, echoing the words of Zimmermann earlier.  
  
Remus was about to protest when Sirius gave him an impish, albeit sad, grin.  
  
There was a long break in the conversation as the car passed through Ottery St. Catchpole. "Remus," Sirius began. "I don't feel well."  
  
Remus knew what Sirius was saying, and found he could not find the right thing to say in return. It will get better with time, he thought.  
  
The car was slowing now as it pulled up the snaking driveway to Harry's house. Trees clasped leafy branches overhead as the car prowled underneath. Eventually they came before a large, graceful-looking house.  
  
When Harry had finished Hogwarts he had spent the summer with the Weasleys, as opposed to returning back to his relatives. It was now safe for him to go without the blood protection his aunt provided. At the end of the summer he bought a house with some of the money his parents had left him. Since then he had spent every spare moment fixing up the place. It still needed a lot of work.  
  
Remus was not the only person to have been surprised by Harry's purchase. It had been sudden and unexpected, and the house was very large for only one person to be living in. The renovations of the rooms inside seemed a very odd project for someone who was single and seemed as though he would remain so for a while yet to come.  
  
The car came to a smooth halt in front of the stone path leading down from the front steps. Remus stepped out of the car and walked around to the other side to help Sirius. As he stooped to grip Sirius by the arm he heard a shout call his name. He swiveled around to see Harry, tall and sun- bronzed, round the corner of the house. The mud on his jeans indicated he had been working in his yard.  
  
"Harry, how are you?"  
  
"Well enough," he replied, wiping his dirty hands on his jeans. He was now eyeing the two Aurors, who had both sprung from the car and were watching the conversation very closely.  
  
"Zimmermann, Stokes," he said, nodding his head at them.  
  
The two Aurors seemed a little pleased at receiving an acknowledgement.  
  
Remus felt Sirius shift behind him and turned around again to finish helping him to his feet. He could feel three pairs of eyes cast his way.  
  
"And there you go, Sirius," he said as Sirius stood.  
  
Harry was still standing about ten yards away, an unreadable expression on his face. Sirius looked around him for a moment before spotting Harry. He froze.  
  
"Sirius?" Remus whispered.  
  
"James?" Sirius intoned hoarsely.  
  
"Sirius!" Remus hissed.  
  
"James," Sirius said, stepping unsteadily closer. "James, forgive me."  
  
Harry bore a decidedly unsure expression now. "I'm Harry, Sirius, your godson." He stepped closer.  
  
"I'm sorry Harry," Remus said. "He began talking in the car on the way over. I tried to explain everything to him."  
  
"It's alright."  
  
"Sirius, I told you, it's Harry. He wanted you to come stay with him."  
  
Sirius shook his head suddenly, and then looked at Harry again.  
  
"Harry...I'm sorry. You... you look so much like him..."  
  
Harry seemed uncomfortable at this. He knew he caused some people pain by reminding them of a double murder they wanted to forget.  
  
"No, Harry, I'm glad," Sirius said, as if reading Harry's thoughts.  
  
Remus watched as Harry took Sirius's arm and led him up the walk to the house. Sirius stopped when they reached the steps and looked back at Remus. Harry stopped with him.  
  
"Won't you stay for lunch, Remus? Don't worry, I didn't cook. Mrs. Weasley dropped off something earlier."  
  
Remus forced a laugh. "No, I'm afraid I can't. I have some work to do. But I will drop by soon to see how things are."  
  
Harry shrugged and turned back to the steps. Remus watched as Harry showed his godfather into the house.  
  
As the door closed, he let out a long sigh. It had gone all right, he thought. And Sirius had started talking. That, at least, was more than he had been hoping for. As he turned from the house he felt somewhat satisfied now that Harry would have some form of family to fill his house with. It was why he had bought that house in the first place, Remus now realized.  
  
He was pulled from his reverie by the voice of Zimmermann—or was it Stokes? Remus did not care.  
  
"Come on now, Moody's orders to take you back to the Ministry."  
  
"I'll Apparate," Remus said.  
  
Zimmermann and Stokes cast a nervous glance between them.  
  
"Don't worry," Remus said. "I'll send an owl telling him not to use the hot irons for breaking orders."  
  
With a pop, Remus Disapparated.  
  
x x x  
  
Well, if you liked it, review. If you really liked it, read my other fanfic, Facing Demons (starring the splendiferous Severus Snape). If you didn't like it, get out of my sight.  
  
I'm only planning for this to be a one-shot, I'm afraid. I did have ideas for subsequent chapters, but it wasn't really a plot, and I will NOT commit the crime of writing plot-less, gratuitous fluff. (But if you want to know, what I had in mind was Sirius and Harry each teaching the other a thing or two about trust, relationships, etc., and Harry eventually finding someone to settle down with. This 'someone' was meant to be Ginny Weasley, which is why I made Harry buy his house in Ottery St. Catchpole. Whether he realized it at the time or not, Harry bought that house to be close to her and her family and to make him feel as though, once he fixed up the house, he could have a happy family life like them. But that taken care of, I would also want Sirius to find someone too; and how could I keep our favorite werewolf lonely either? So you see how this would all have just dissolved into utter fluff if I had continued it.)  
  
However, if anybody takes a liking to this one-shot and wants to continue it, in the manner that I have suggested or otherwise, feel free to do so. Just give credit for where you got the skeleton for your story from and let me know so I can read it.  
  
I have other unwritten one-shots that I will do this with—post the first chapter and let other's expand if they want to. So...drop by my profile and rip off my ideas if you are ever feeling high and dry in the inspiration department.  
  
And...REVIEW. 


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